If you’re like me, you should have noticed that Mac screens are really bright. This is especially obvious on my early–2007 iMac where, even during the day, I set the screen brightness to the minimum. Since I’m already at the minimum, at night, it is definitely too much bright.

Staring in front of a computer screen that bright is a bad thing for your sleep. OS X provides a built-in but often underused way to adapt your monitor, called the Night Vision Mode: simply press Cmd-Option-Ctrl-8 to invert screen colors. If you’d like to experience more subtle ways to manipulate your screen brightness, read on to find out some clever apps.

GeekTool is a small, yet remarkably powerful application that some neglect because of it’s steep learning curve. Thankfully for uniquely useful apps like GeekTool, there is always a community of users that make the app even better — and in this case simpler.

From basic to exceedingly complex, the following is an assortment of very useful, powerful and fun Geeklets and scripts that can help you get started with GeekTool. From weather, power consumption and productiveness to social, music and Internet, there are plenty of great Geeklets to try and enjoy. Just remember not to use too many Geeklets at once; your RAM will thank you.

This post is part of a series that revisits some of our readers’ favorite articles from the past that still contain awesome and relevant information that you might find useful. This post was originally published on August 2nd, 2011.

A few weeks ago, I wrote an article about text-to-speech in OSX, and one commenter suggested I check out Repeat After Me, a text-to-speech utility hidden in the Developer folder.

While checking it out, I discovered that the Developer folder holds a stash of useful applications and utilities I’d never heard of before. I’ve found some real gems while digging through Developer Tools, including some utilities that I now use on a regular basis. Let’s go hunting for burried treasure!

This post is part of a series that revisits some of our readers’ favorite articles from the past that still contain awesome and relevant information that you might find useful. This post was originally published on August 23rd, 2011.

As most laptop users are aware, running multiple applications on that thirteen inch display is a pain. Things get crowded very quickly and there isn’t much you can do besides drag and resize each window- slowly and painfully. Or can you?

In this post I’m going to blast through all the different options for managing windows on your Mac. There are some general categories to keep in mind: those that work with virtual desktops (or in Apple-world: Spaces), individual windows and some unique window management solutions. Let’s dive in!

Welcome to the land of multiple monitors. The land where you can sit on your desk and immerse yourself with your work, your gaming, and your media. A land where our inner geek comes out and takes complete control over you while salivating over the amount of real estate those screens possess – not to mention how amazingly cool it looks.

But. This land can get a bit daunting. There is a lot of space to use, as well as applications to manage and keep organized. To facilitate this process, we have put together a list of a few apps (old and new) that will help you manage windows, the menubar, and even use other devices as your external monitors.

With the introduction of OS X Lion, Dashboard widgets seem to be on their way out of the OS for good. While many of us still use them everyday, lots OS X users rarely do — some of them don’t even know about Dashboard widgets. That is quite a shame, though. Dashboard widgets can be very helpful when you don’t want to fire-up a bigger app just to get one single and simple task done.

For those who still use widgets as well as those who don’t, we have a sweet list of formidable widgets you can download today. They are small, useful, and some even look really, really good. Give them a chance if you don’t already have them installed.

Have you ever admired how professionals get stuff done so incredibly fast on their Macs? It’s often hard to follow what they’re doing because they never stop to grab their mouse or use their tablet. They keep hammering away on their keyboard, controlling apps via shortcuts in a way that makes us wonder how they ever memorized them all.

If you want to take your skills on the Mac to the next level as well, a tiny utility will now help you find you all the shortcuts you need to be a pro. Readers, meet CheatSheet.

This post is part of a series that revisits some of our readers’ favorite articles from the past that still contain awesome and relevant information that you might find useful. Though, over the past year, a few things have changed, so check for the updates below, too.

This post was originally published on June 21th, 2011.

Like most Mac users, I have mixed feelings about the Mac App store. For app users, the App Store makes it easier to find and manage apps all in one place, but largely eliminates the flexibility of free trials. New developers probably enjoy the increased visibility of being in the App Store, but likely lament about the slow acceptance process and numerous restrictions.

Though it seems like most Mac app developers are following the crowd to the App Store, there are still some real gems out there that haven’t made the switch. In this round-up, I’ll go through an incomplete list of fantastic apps missing from the App Store that are worth straying to the browser for. (I’m not including free apps or popular, well-known software like the Microsoft Office or Adobe Creative Suites.)

I’ve got a bit of an OCD issue: I hate cords and cables of any kind. So naturally, when Apple announced AirPlay I was ecstatic, and ever since I’ve been an avid user of this awesome wireless streaming tool. Unlike many of Apple’s other products, AirPlay is both relatively open and extremely easy to hack.

That openness in the AirPlay platform has led to a whole host of cool and unconventional uses for the technology. In this article I’ll show you five different things you probably didn’t know you could do with AirPlay; and you’ll see that AirPlay is no longer just for iTunes videos.(more…)

This post is part of a series that revisits some of our readers’ favorite articles from the past that still contain awesome and relevant information that you might find useful. This post was originally published on June 14th, 2011.

Your Mac comes prepared with its own widget for you to check the weather, and it works just fine, but sometimes you want something more accurate, with more features, or perhaps that works through your menu bar or your desktop instead of in your widgets.

Today we are presenting you some of the most popular weather apps available for your Mac. These will range from simple menu bar apps to real pieces of art with animations and other visual flair. Take a look!